The Blue Gardenia (1953)

Director:

Fritz Lang

Writers:

Charles Hoffman (screenplay)
Vera Caspary (story)

Release Date:

23 March 1953 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Film-Noir | Mystery | Thriller

Plot:

A telephone operator ends up drunk and at the mercy of a cad in his apartment. The next morning she wakes up with a hangover and the terrible fear she may be a murderess.

Plot Keywords:

Letter | Telephone | Telephone Operator | Newspaper | Birthday

US TV Schedule:

Sat. Nov. 21

10:30 AM

TCM

Cast

Anne Baxter	...	Norah Larkin
Richard Conte	...	Casey Mayo
Ann Sothern	...	Crystal Carpenter
Raymond Burr	...	Harry Prebble
Jeff Donnell	...	Sally Ellis
Richard Erdman	...	Al
George Reeves	...	Police Capt. Sam Haynes
Ruth Storey	...	Rose Miller
Ray Walker	...	Homer
Nat 'King' Cole	...	Himself

Runtime:

Germany:88 min | USA:90 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

Norway:16 | West Germany:16 (f) | Finland:K-16 | USA:Approved (PCA #16317) | Sweden:15

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Blue Gardenia Productions

Trivia:

Sally enjoys reading bloody thrillers written by Mickey Mallet - a spoof on Mickey Spillane, whose novels featuring Mike Hammer are just as gruesome as those Sally describes.

Goofs:

Audio/visual unsynchronized: Perhaps unaware that his hands on the keyboard are visible in the mirror behind him, Nat 'King' Cole plays a strikingly different piano arrangement of "Blue Gardenia" than the one we are hearing.

Quotes:

Casey Mayo: How about you slip into something more comfortable, like a few drinks and some chinese food.

Soundtrack:

Prelude and Liebestod from 'Tristan and Isolde'

Nostalgic Melodrama

Norah, a young, attractive woman (played by Anne Baxter), gets a letter from her overseas boyfriend, informing her that he has found a new love. At just the moment she realizes she has been rejected, the phone rings. It's a dinner invitation from a womanizer who thinks he is talking to one of Norah's two female roommates. Depressed and vulnerable, Norah impulsively accepts the invitation, on her own behalf. This is the setup for "The Blue Gardenia", set in the early 50s, a film with a good beginning and some really high-powered Hollywood talent.

The screenplay, with its contrived plot, and director Fritz Lang's ambivalent direction render a flawed production. The film's tone, expressed both in the B&W cinematography and in the music, tends to seesaw back and forth between romance and mystery. But, the film can still be enjoyable to viewers looking for a murder-mystery/romance combo that is not overly complex. The easy to follow plot moves along unencumbered by the confusion wrought by multi-layered plot gimmicks so common in today's films.

The film's ending is one for the books. In all the mystery films I have watched, I don't recall a murder investigation being wrapped up so easily as this one. It's way too neat and too tidy to be credible. The film's 88-minute run time leaves a lot of room for additional material. Expansion of the film's final Act could have provided a more realistic and satisfying ending.

I really liked seeing Raymond Burr and Ann Sothern. The film also sports some clever dialogue. With its interesting premise, "The Blue Gardenia", despite a flawed script, will likely appeal to viewers looking for a melodramatic film with a nostalgic setting, wherein the plot is straightforward. Viewers looking for a topnotch script and/or a complex storyline with lots of plot twists and subtlety will need to look elsewhere.